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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



Religion in Business 



AND 



Business in Religion 



Religion in Business 



AND 



Business in Religion 



HENRY A. STIMSON, D. D. 

mREGATIONAL Chlpch 



ST LOl - 

ALDEN PRINTING CO., PUBLISHERS 






tzsjjrX 






189a. 

IENRY * N D. D. 



The Library 
of Congress 



WASHINGTON 



Sav ve to the righteous that it shall be well with him, 
for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe unto the 
wicked. It shall be ill with him ; tor the reward of his 
hands shall be given him. Isaiah III. : io-ii. 



RELIGION IN BUSINESS. 



LET me disclaim at the outset the thought of possess- 
ing any special wisdom with reference to business 
affairs. I have no prescription for insuring success. Re- 
ligion in Business does not mean success in business. No 
amount of religion will make after-thought serve for fore- 
-thought, or erroneous judgment take the place of correct 
judgment, or heedlessness do the work of pains-taking, 
or ignorance answer for experience. Religion does not 
make the small, great ; or the simple, shrewd ; or the weak, 
strong ; or the sick, well ; or the foolish, wise ; at least in 
business. 

But for all that, God's word abundantly declares that 
there is a very close connection between business and 
religion. If there is one thing plainer than another in the 
Bible, it is that God makes a difference between honesty 
and dishonesty, and that He rewards men according to their 
deeds. Whatever may be the relative standing of men on 
earth, God tries them by their integrity, or want of integ- 
rity ; and blesses the one while He curses the other. 

Here, then, is the ground on which I venture to have 
something to say to you. I have not to teach you how to 
make money, but how to serve God. 

Furthermore, let me say that I know something of your 
burdens and perplexities. Far be it from meto make light 
of them. Because the world at large knows what are the 



RELIGIOl 



temptations of business men, the world gives such high 
honor to honorable men of business. Christian men are 
the back-bone of the business community. 1 well remem- 
ber when, as a boy, 1 was a clerk in a great house in x 
York, hearing a fellow clerk, an infidel and a foreigner, 
cursing, because in New York, if a merchant was known to 
:^e a church member he had better credit. What was it but 
his unwilling testimony to the fact that the average Chris- 
tian business man is more trustworthy than the average 
business man not a Christian? We may praise God that 
it is so generally true. At the same time we must not be 
blind to the struggle. All do not stand. Temptations are 
hot. The pressure is often terrific. Many get involved in 
doubts and perplexities and weak compromises— many fall. 
What can we do to clear the vision, to brace the courage, 
to strengthen the purpose? How can we help one another 
to serve God bravely each in his place ? 

Let me put what I have to say in the form of a few 
propositions, which will, I trust, need little discussion, and 
may serve to make some things clearer. 

First: You will all admit that RELIGION IN BUSINESS 
IS THE SAME AS RELIGION OUT OF BUSINESS. 

When God savs, "The soul that sinneth it shall die," 
He does not add, "except the sin be a commercial sin." 
When He says, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all 
thy heart, and thy neighbor as thyself," He does no; 

:ept you are in business." When a man approaching 

the question of personal religion, feels, as most do, that he 

must begin to do business differently, his feeling is perfectly 

correct. There are not two kinds of moral law, one for 

tnd Sundays, the other for business and v 

- : one for the pulpit, the other for the street. 

Christianity has but one code of morals. I know it is 

often claimed that there are two, and if this proposition 

• opened to discussion a good deal would be urged about 

the nece- doing business in a different way from that 



»N i\ E 



;d that main- Chris 

s In that way. But, when all is said, 
irt the d that there can be 

le man V 

ing r n in business 

is the same as religion out of busiiv. 

: IF a ' RELIGION DOl S NOT Kl 

HONEST IT IS WORTHL1 

This docs rtot mean : " If a man's religion does not keep 
him as honest as other men are in the same busiiv 
Nor: M If a man's religion does not keep him honest where 

dishonesty is likely to be found out." It carries the ques- 
tion back to the forum of a man's own conscience, and the 
law of God. If a man's religion does not hold him to 
doing that and that only which is right in God's sight, 
and which needs no justifying, his religion is so far worth- 
He may he a decent man ; he may be a successful 
man ; he may be an honest man, as the world counts hon- 
. but a religious man, a Christian man — No ! 

The sole function of religion is to bring a man in heart 
and life into accord with God, and to keep him there; and 
any man whose religion does not hold him to that stand- 
ard, in business or out of it, is self-deceived. 

1 do not say he may not at last be forgiven. God's un- 
covenanted mercies are great ; but such religion as a pres- 
ent reality, and as a witness to God, is vain. 

Third: THERE IS NO HONEST OCCUPATION IN WHICH 
AN HONEST MAN IS REQUIRED TO BE DISHONEST. 

I speak of honest men, not of those who would like to be 
honest, but are not. There are such, — men who approve 
sty, who deeply regret that they are in circumstances 
which compromise them, who mean some day to do differ- 
ently, and who are very anxious to be taken, like a patent 
medicine, at their own estimate of themselves, such men, 
I know, are often engaged in honest occupations in which 
they think they are required to be dishonest. But I am 



8 RELIGION IN BUSIN1 SS. 



I honest men; and of them i say that in no 
hon don are they required to be dishones 

Win' ! dear friends, ( *od made the world, and Hr mad 

right. We are here to till the earth and subdue it God 
has established the conditions il existence. Yo . 

trade. So far as there are laws, 
I relations from which sound principles of procedure can 
s truly God's laws as are the Ten 
nmandments. God has not made the earth and then 

iv purpose and used for any Iniquitous 
device that man may concoct It Is His world. He is 
•where In it, guiding, controlling, accomplishing with 
it His own pur ;s truly now as at the beginning. 

I Respite the 1 >ss and confusion from man's wrong-doing, 
the world Is ly advancing in the accumulation 

industry, and ail that constitutes temporal progress. Com. 
pare our circumstances with those of our ancestors, say five 
hundred years ago. Their floors had no carpets, their 
rooms no chairs, their windows no glass, their tables no 
forks, their houses no hooks. Society meant the unre- 
strained dominion of the strong over the weak. The la- 
borer lived in a hovel, slept on the ground, was unshod. 
and almost wholly unclad. Within the memory of men 
living steam, in all its thousand applications, electric- 
ity, llluminal 1-oil, stoves, anthracite coal, cheap 
postage and transportation, dress goods printed from rollers, 
cheap cotton fabrics, and scores of articles now in common 
ither invented or given to the world. The 
I the average possessions of men have 
d that despite all that men, by war and 
crime have done to prevent it. The poorest laborer en 
many things daily which, one hundred years ago, the 

•hiest man could not obtain. Can you SU] 
moment (hat tills nee, this steady and tccu- 

ition of the best products of industry and skill, is 
dishonesty, >r is the outcome 



i IGION IN Bl MM 



. whether they be of trade or of the 
. which are antagonistic to the laws of God? I toubt- 

in the world. Doubtless 

in evil Work is 

•he heart of the sons of men is 
io evil." But two things cannot 
be denied: that God made the world and men to live in 
ind that the world, accordin d's plan, is steadily 

acing in the accumulations s industry and 

ities of man's life. Therefore, proj. ainot 

rest . riie occupations of men by which 

the world is helped forward, are honest occupations, and 
honest men can engage in them, and deal honestly. 
It is idle for a man to say that he cannot succeed in busi- 
and be honest. It is untrue. The whole history of 
the race is against it. Why have vice and immorality 
eaten out the heart, and so destroyed nations which the 
most vigorous foes could not overthrow? It is because 
ind immorality arrayed God against them, and the very 
forces of life and of society, which God has established, 
and they disregarded or defied, mustered to destroy them. 
Is not this just as true of dishonesty as of vice? Where 
is a single business house that has been built up and stood 
through the centuries buttressed in dishonesty? There is 
not one. The very thought is absurd. The hosts of God 
are arrayed against such business, and sooner or later they 
hurl it to the ground. Has not the world long since recog- 
nized this? Has it not framed for its own selfish ends the 
maxim " Honesty is the best policy." Victor Hugo said 
Napoleon failed at Waterloo, not because of the rain the 
previous night, not because of Grouchy's delay, but because 
he " Embarrassed God." So business men fail when 
they think they can insure success by business methods 
that embarrass God. 

Fourth : ANY OCCUPATION IN WHICH A MAN CANNOT 
BE HONEST, OR THINKS HE CANNOT BE HONEST, AND 



io Religion in 

SUCCEED, IS FOR HIM A NEFARIOUS 0( TION, 

ID HE SHOULD QUIT IT. 

Go< ire that we succeed in what we under- 

take. He does require that we maintain our character. If 
we find ourselves placed where we cannot do that, our 
course is perfectly plain. The occupation, be it what it 
US nefarious. It is of no consequence who may 
: others may think of the propriety of it ; if 
you are persuaded that you cannot succeed, in the business 
In which you are engaged without doing what in your heart 
you feel to be dishonest, your duty is, at any cost, promptly 
to leave it. 

Now, with these propositions before us, which I believe 
to be, and which 1 think you will accept as foundation 
truths, let me try to say some things which will strengthen 
you against temptation. 1 believe that LOOSE BUSINESS 
HABITS HAVE A\UCH TO DO WITH LOOSE BUSINESS 
MORALS. What are the loose business habits? They are 
numerous. Trusting to luck is one of them ; hoping that 
things will come out right when you don't take the trouble 
to see that they do ; ignorance as to exact facts ; haif un- 
derstood and indefinite agreements; carelessness as to 
your spoken word ; promising to do, or agreeing to do, 
what you have no thought of doing exactly ; easy excuses 
with yourself for disregarding other people's interests, or 
wasting their time in not keeping your appointments to 
the minute; that slovenliness in dealing with employes* 
which takes no note of idleness and incompetency, and 
equally, fails to appreciate fidelity, and to reward valuable 
service; overlooking the human element that enters into 
all work and trade, and makes a friend worth more than 
rary profit; foolish competition, that thinks it does 
not matter how you get your business provided you get it; 
untruthful advertising. Do you think a man can exagger- 
r tell lies In the new . or in his circulars to his 

1 ade, without becoming careless of truth, and even blind 



»N IN BUS 



ttions ? I to you think a merchant can 

[ .istomers without u ks to dc 

I i in ? A self-respecting mand 

>n« A business man, who has himself 
well in hand can generally keep his business in hand. 

A second snare to ' S men is MORAL COWARDICE, 

ir with me. I must call things by their right names. 
it to help you if I can. I know something of the 
re under. You have a family to sup- 
port, or a position to establish. You know that for a man 
of character to fail is to inflict a more or less serious evil 
upon the community It brings Christian character into 
question ; it does harm to religion. The causes of his 
failure may have been entirely beyond his control. The 
world only knows that he has made engagements he can- 
not meet, and his name is dishonored. You are under 
obligation, therefore, to succeed. 

Moreover, you are in competition with unscrupulous men ; 
or perhaps you happen to be in partnership with them. 
They are found in all departments of business — men who 
know no law but self-interest ; they care nothing for God ; 
they have no conscience; they misrepresent goods; they 
deceive the public; they hesitate at no mean advantage; 
they jump at the chance to do you harm. I know all this. 
But for this very reason the temptation to moral cowardice 
is strong. The pressure is so great that you are carried away 
in spite of yourself. Satan springs upon you sudden temp- 
tation. He touches you in the sensitive spot. Your trade 
will be injured. A customer may be won away; and in 
thefear of thus giving advantage to competitors in a strug ■ 
gle that is so hot you betray yourself. You let down, or 
hide your principles. You give place to the devil. It is 
perhaps little to be wondered at, but it is none the less 
disastrous. A rival manufacturer is adulterating his 
goods; how can you afford to sell a genuine article? A 
dangerous competitor has opened a line of trade from which 



12 RELIGI ESS. 

you have scrupulously held aloof. You could strain a 
point and call it legitimate, but hitherto you have not done 
it. Yo ience would not let you. But it is very 

profitable. Or, you can hurry your work up or gain a little 
mtage by having your clerks work on Sunday, or by 
get! r mail on Sunday; or you consent to work on 

Sun, u learn that your neighbor has dis- 

covered a trick by which he gets great advantage, we will 
of the l 1 company; his shipping tickets give 

wrong weights ; he overloads cars; he ships goods under 
• descriptions ; he secures wrong classification ; he 
works through a freight clerk and pays commission on 
surreptitious rebates ; or perhaps he has goods to sell, and 
he bribes the purchasing agent. Now, shall you not do 
the same? Or, you have suffered loss through fraud or 
theft, and it will cost you some trouble, and possible further 
loss to punish the wrong-doer, and do y^ur part toward 
protecting the community. Or, the community is seeking 
to rid itself of some public evil, and there is occasion for 
united protest, and you may lose trade or offend some cus- 
tomer if your name is seen with others, or if your voice is 
heard on the side of the public welfare. I have known 
wealthy business men, Christian men, hasten to take their 
names off such protests, or asseverate that they signed them 
through a misunderstanding,when they had been published, 
because they were suddenly ashamed. " We sell our mer- 
chandise, not our principles," said one indignant merchant 
to some customers that waited upon him after such a pro- 
had appeared. The snares of Satan are innumer- 
able, and many a weak and timid soul is beguiled. How 
cheaply many men sell themselves ! But Satan is a coward- 
I received the other day a communication from a detective 
agency, which had as a standing heading these words, ''Re- 
sponsible Shadows and Private Watchmen Furnish. 
That is e what is wan i 

and a private watchman ! Christian men h the 



RE1 

workings of their own t. ts with such a sense of e 

accountability that the ■ ginningS of temptation are 

md whose shadow even is responsible. They 
do nothing, however unwittingly, of which they have 
9 >n to be ashamed. 

Once more: THE COMMUNITY AT LARGE OWES IT 
TO BUSINESS MEN THAT THE TEMPTATION TO 
HONESTY BE MADE AS SLIGHT AS POSSIBLE. 

This in several ways. You should refuse to trade with 
dishonest men. It is not enough that you are honest y 
self. You have not done your whole duty until you strive 
to make honesty ssful by boycotting dishonesty. If 

a man can cheat you, and still have your custom ; if a man 
can be notoriously untruthful and dishonest, and still hold 
a large business and make plenty of money, and nobody 
seem to care so long as they can get goods of him cheap, 
what wonder that the defense of honest tradesmen is 
ken down, and business turns into a head-long scramble 
for shekels. 

For the same reason the community owes it to business 
men that they make the laws such as to remove, and not to 
increase, the temptation to dishonesty. I have nothing to 
say as to the inherent desirability and wisdom of the Inter- 
state Commerce law, but look at the situation to-day. I 
recently sat in a company of most respectable St. Louis 
merchants, and heard one of their number say, " You 
know that three-fourths of you gentlemen could be sent to 
the penitentiary for what you are doing under that law," 
and what was the reply ? A gentle and genial smile around 
the circle — not a word, not a look, not a hint of indignant 
protest at such an amazing charge ! A prominent railway 
official, a gentleman and a Christian, said to me the other 
day: M It is simply impossible to do business honorably. 
I have thrown honor to the winds." Think of a commun- 
ity getting into a condition in which its greatest corpora- 
tions, the railways, and its merchants alike, unite t 



LIOION IN BUSIN1 

business by evasions, and subterfuges, and go-betweens, 
and s aid greenbacks carried around in satchels 

through clerks into the hands of reputable mer- 
chants ! Such a system would have made apples and a 
serpent superfluous in the garden of Eden. It would breed 
a race of knaves anywhere. 

Then, when you h s, you need to set hon- 

est men to administer them. Look at the state of things 
ly In St. Louis. See the way in which municipal leg- 
ion is bought and sold, and reputable business men 
join in it, because it promotes their schemes. Did ever 
city endure deeper disgrace than that New Year's Southern 
Hotel banquet? The representatives of great private cor- 
porations dining and wining public officials and bosses, in 
,, shameless, defiant jubilation over successful corrup- 
tion and knavery, and with a lively sense of favors to come. 
" Necessity makes strange bed-fellows. " Yes, but think 
of the plea of such necessity, in this day of grace, in a city of 
freemen, and on the lips of you merchants, you business 
men of St. Louis. 

Much more might be said. But surely this is enough to 
show, both how great are the responsibilities of a Chris- 
business man, and how great are his privileges. He 
is a man chosen of the Lord, and set by Him in the midst 
of a sinful and rebellious world to witness for Him. H 
and truth and righteousness are on his side. He is in the 
forefront of the battle. Yes, you dear friends are stand- 
ard bearers for Christ. What if the conflict is hot ? What 
if the smoke of battle fills the air? What if many fall ? 
"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of 
the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, norsit- 
teth in the seat of the scornful. " " Set yourselves, stand 
ye still and see the salvation of the Lord with you," is the 
Lord's voice to you to-day, as it was to the men of old. 
Only be true to your calling. Remember that there is woe 
to him that gains an evil gain, for he sins against his own 



soul. Watch well your c< i 

ings. 

t)U Can be trusted i 
.:■ heart on the 
3 head in a high place who walked s 
. low one. I have known n in one t 

the r I along very \v< 

him only one pound; when he found himself possi 
I ent to pieces. You wives have a great 
with this. When the wile gets into her head the 
her husband is going I rich man, and begins to 

egg him on, then there is peril. How often your plain, 

-king, unambitious husband, who was but 
gene' riendly, helpful to all, is seen becoming 

| erity, close, selfish and vain-glorious. The Lord gives 
such people the desire of their heart, and sends "leanness 
into their soul.' ; A " snare and many foolish and hurtful 
i that drown men in destruction and perdition I " It is 
well not to be too eager for success. You may be sure of 
:h of character without fear, but wealth and character 
come not so surely together. A Christian business man may 
well be proud of such success as God gives him ; and may 
rightly prav that God will suffer him to die in the harness. 
He needs no larger field to fight his fight, and win his 
crown for G 



Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, 
and with all thy soul and with all thy might. Deut. VI.: 5. 

hat shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole 
world and lose his own soul? Mark VIII. : 36. 



BUSINESS IN RELIGION. 



IF ever there was a time when a line could be drawn 
round certain tl ns, audit could be said, " Within 

this line the rules and methods of business prevail, out- 
of it they do not," that day has passed. In the 
management of the home, the school, the church, there 
must be system, order, purpose, in short, a recognition 
of business and business ways, or success cannot be ex- 
pect 

This being true in the outer and practical life, it has 
occurred to me that through its lessons we may get at the 
truths of the inner and spiritual life. If business means 
so much and accomplishes so much in the world, may it 
not have value if we can apply it to religion ? 

There are certain great principles that underlie all busi- 
ness, and determine success or failure. I have, from time 
to time, talked on the subject with many successful business 
men, and I am surprised t) learn what a striking uniformity 
there is in their testimony. Quite independently of what 
may be their personal character, or their religious convic- 
tion, or their want of conviction, in the main they all agree 
as to the principles of business which they regard as essen- 
tial to success. I am encouraged to believe, therefore, that 
these may be helpful in throwing light upo-n religion. 

They all agree in the first place, that to be successful, one 
must have a METHOD, a plan, for the conduct of his busi- 



22 BUSINESS in Religion. 

ness. To trust to luck, to go at hap-hazard, is sure to end in 
failure. Sometimes the plan is adopted instinctivel 
a result of a man's character or his previous training. 
One gentleman told me that when they organized their 
firm, he and his partners sat down and talked it over care- 
fully, and thus determined the plan by which their business 
to be conducted. But plan there must be. Moreover, 
the plan once carefully settled, must be held to. It must 
n t be changed under stress of weather or adverse circum- 
s.ances. A leading miller said to me: "Our plan is to 
succeed by making the best Hour that can be produced. 
We believe it is the surest way of success. If things go 
against us and some one makes better flour than we do, 
we do not rest until we learn how to improve our grade." 
Another manufacturer said : " One of our rules is to make 
a profit on every order we take. If we find we are losing 
orders we don't change our rule, but we study economy 
until we discover some way of doing the work at a smaller 
cost." 

Another one has quite a different rule. He feels the need 
of a verv wide and large market, and to secure it will often 
sell for a time below cost. But whatever the plan adopted, 
all agree that to have no plan, or to change one's plan from 
day to day, is as disastrous as to change one's business, 
and for the same reasons. A man cannot be a grocer this 
year, a dry-goods dealer the next, a miller the third, and 
hoj>e to succeed. He must commit himself to some one 
business, fix his plan for conducting if, and then stick to 
it. 

Furthermore, 1 find, in the second place, that all agree 
that a man cannot succeed without giving HIS UNDIVIDED 
ATTENTION to his business. He must make a business 
of it. Very few men can successfully conduct several kinds 
of business at the same time. St. Louis is full of men who 
• failed from dabbling in things foreign to their legiti- 
mate affairs Outside things can be taken up for 



in Rem 



5t If they com] Ith a m 

business In their demand upon either his thought « ,t 
time, the; him evil. One thing, with all 

the mind, the heart, th< to be the rule. 

m the third place, that a man HAVE A 
BLL-r -which 1 ive himself. He must regard it 

as worthy of his efforts. He must believe in it, and take 

.\ 
one man to me. " We draw out of it only enough to live 
on, and we are living economically. We put all we 
into our plant/' Other everything on their plan 

oi accumulation. They sacrifice comfort, ease, sometimes 
friends or character itself, for the chosen line of suc- 
A mancanhardiy hope to succeed in anything unless 
he puts Ins heart Into it. He cannot put his heart into it 
unless he believes in it. A man, therefore, must have some 
business in which he can believe, and of which, as a meas- 
ure of his success, he can be proud. 

Again, I find, in the fourth place, that SPECIAL TRAIN- 
is regarded as very essential to success in business. 

"It is absolutely indispensable in our business," said 
one merchant. " We have daily to make decisions on the 
instant, which largely involve our success or failure. No 
man can do it who is not trained to the business." " Com- 
petition," said another, " is now so close that education in 
business is going to be a more and more important element 
of success. It did not require much business training when 
a grocer could make a dollar profit on a sack of flour. It 
is a different matter when he has to sell it on a margin of a 
few cents." Many fail from too great haste to get rich. 
They are not content with slow accumulations ; nor are 
they willing to begin at the bottom and work up. Patient, 
steady, instructive growth is more important to day than it 
ever was. 



SS IN KELIGION. 



Oncen Ml agra eed, a man must be 

.PT HIMSELF TO CHANGES which from 
time to time tak »th in markets and methods of 

One manufacturer said to me : "So great are the changes 
in our business, that I would rather take into my mill a 
n hand, than on^ who learned the trade ten v 

rned nothing since/' Men are everywhere 
oi. the i >ok-out for novelties, in fabric, in style, in ad.: 

, -ale merchant said: "We used to depend 

<ur trade largely upon advertising. We would soon 

run <»ut 11 i that now. We hunt up customers, and 

keep after them." Even the banks, they tell me, have 

greatly changed their methods in re. irs. 

Again : and this point is somewhat remarkable, in view 
of what is constantly said about the dishonesty of business 
men ; 1 find that our successtul business men are doing 
business on the basis of TRUST IN OTHERS. 

One says: "In our business we get security when we 
can, but a man cannot do business who does not trust 
somebody.'' There is no such thing as trusting no one 
and succeeding, or doing business on an absolute certainty. 
Another says : " We do business on the basis of our belief 
that men are honest. We trust those with whom we deal 
absolutely. Our business rests almost entirely on verbal 
contracts. n Another, of whom I inquired, said : "Cer- 
tainly ; the basis of our business is the confidence we have 
in others. We never could have succeeded unless others 
had had this confidence in us." " This is the whole foun- 
dation of my business career," said one gentleman, with 
evident feeling. " If men had not trusted me, I could have 
done nothing." The tendency of business seems to estab- 
lish the principle that a man's word is his capital. It is 
conclusive proof that the entire structure of commercial 
ted dp. the doctrine of probabilities. Cer- 
tainty is not required and is not to be had. Faith in one 



INI SS IN REI IGH >v 



another, faith In one's judgment, faith In one's principles 

and methods of business is the foundation o\ every sue- 

ful career. Unless a man Is willing to accept this, and 

to order his business affairs by a reasonable faith, he 

not do business. 

Still further: I find all to agree that attention to 
DETAILS is a first principle of success. One man said to 
me : u We know what every man in our employ is d 
all the time." Another said : " My partner, or myself, is 
familiar with every department of our business. We watch 
every man and every process. We keep exact account of 
every item." "We attend more closely to detail," said 
another, "than any other mill in the country." " I mark 
the price on every article in my store," said another. " We 
know exactly what every one of our salesmen is making 
for us," said still another. A man content with generali- 
ties, or who drifts with the crowd, cannot succeed now-a- 
days* 

Finally: i observe that successful business men ARE 
LIBERAL IN THEIR DEALING WITH OTHERS AND EXACT 
IN THEIR DEALING WITH THEMSELVES. 

One man, who holds himself to the most careful rules, 
and prides himself upon his exact accountability, and that 
of every man in his employ, says that as a matter of policy, 
his firm makes it a rule to settle every claim liberally, even 
when it involves temporary loss. It promotes good will 
and helps business. Another says : " We give a customer 
the benefit of the doubt." And another — though I fear his 
kind is rare— " We could get our labor considerably cheaper, 
but we want the good-will of our men." It seems to be a 
rule of successful business, especially that on the largest 
scale, that while a man can hardly be too generous in his 
business dealings with others, and that narrowness or 
closeness in this relation is sure to defeat itself, in dealing 
with oneself a man can hardly be too exacting. He must 
know his own purposes: he must constantly revise his 



26 Hi S IN RELIGION. 



knowledge and keep his experience brought down to date; 
he must deny himself in leisure, in lux ry, il 
havi J plan, and hold to them ; he :r ncen- 

his mind, i .. his heart, upon what he 

':. It is !er that when a 

man does b in this way he takes pride in his busi- 

5. He may, at times, get discouraged and talk differ- 
ently, but where is there a successful business man, who, 
money he is making, does net take pride in 
his factory, his store, his system, his establishment, as 
representing himself in his effort to do his best? 

There, I believe you have what you will recognize as the 
more important principles that underlie successful business 
life. The list might easily be enlarged. Doubtless there 
are other rules or principles of more immediate application 
>ur own special affairs. But these are enough, and 
they are genuine. Now let me ask you to turn with them 
to the matter of religion. You shall judge youselves. 

Fir ver me this : " What shall it profit a man if he 

gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" Don't 
turn away from it. You have said that a man must choose 
an object in life and set his heart upon it. You have 
it must be an object w f him, worthy of his best 

efforts, worthy of all there is in him, or he cannot do his 
best, he cannot fairly hope to succeed. Before we go any 
further, me th sful business man, 

nan who would be successful; you have made 
your choice, you are in full career, you have staked every- 
thing willingly, gladly, on your business or your profession; 
trll me, what will it profit you, where will you be at the 
end, if you gain all \ seek, and lose your own soul ? 
Again: you have said, a man must have a fixed and 
plan, clear and intelligent, if he would 
J in business. How many of v ipplying this 

principle to religion? I ask you unconverted men, and 
who viited with a merely nominal religion. H 



27 



You h n e w I 
different man from what ; 

nt this from your method in tl ' the 

world. \ } manly purpose? Whei 

the s -I .in by which you are idily, 

surely, with determinatl 

soul ? N , nt once to be a Christian. You once were in 

earnest. And you have grown cold. You were offended by 
the conduct of some church member. You did not like what 

! in the pulpit. You were not pleased atthe pr 
meeting. And you arc the man who says that a man can- 
not succeed in business who does not stick to his pu: 
and hold his plans, no matter what arises to thwart him. 
You were once in full view of Christ. Where are you 
now? What is your purpose now? 

A man must give his undivided attention to his business 
if he would succeed in it. Undivided attention! "Ye 
shall seek for me and find me when ye shall search for me 
with all your heart" That looks as if the method of 
religion was very much like the method of business, does 
it not? 

You know the conditions of success in business, and 
you are only too eager to meet them. Do you meet 
them, are you meeting them in religion? Why do you go 
on from year to year in this half-hearted slow-footed way, 
hanging on the skirts of the sanctuary keeping within 
reach of the gospel, but without paying any real attention 
to it — doing nothing to make it real to yourseh ? 

You say, a man, to succeed, must stake something on 
his business ; he must believe in it. How much have you 
staked on Christ? " If Christ be not risen from the dead, 
then is our preaching vain and your faith is also vain." 
Can you say that? Has Jesus Christ risen for you? Have 
you staked the forgiveness of your sins, and your hope of 
heaven on Him as a living, present Savior, dwelling in 
your heart, inspiring and governing your life? Don't put 
the question aside. Answer it fairly. 



Bl IN RELIG 



You say a man must have training In business. H 
much haveyou In religion? Do you really believe y 
maxim? Is a man's place-, is his joy, his usefulness, 
growth in spiritual things to be determined, as in business, 
by his training for these things? Is it true that the n 
the work a man would do, the higher the prize he would 
win, the more necessary the special training? Is it true 
that in religion early years are best years, and that a man 
can never make up for early years thrown away, or bible 
neglected, or opportunities squandered, or commands of 
God disobeyed, or God kept far off? Is all this true? 
Deep in your heart do you know it to be true? and yet 
are content to put off becoming a Christian, or content not 
to be a truer one? 

You say a man must be watchful of changes of methods 
of business. And how many of you are waiting for some 
old-time experience to come round again ! Once you were 
stirred by some great preacher, and you are patiently wait- 
ing now to be stirred by some powerful appeal. Once you 
were caught up in a great revival and swepton to the very 
gates of the kingdom. You sit helpless to-day await- 
ing a return of the wave. Once you were under deep con- 
viction of sin. God strove with you manifestly. The 
fountains of your heart were broken up. But you held 
out until the springs ran dry. Once you were interested 
in the Christian life and service. Now you are waiting 
for that old interest to come back to life. Thus, in one 
way or another, you excuse yourselves. Why f dear 
friends, does business refuse to go round in a circle; do 
meth ds change ; do things happen but once, and nothing 
it Itself; are the drowsy and the careless left behind? 
And is there no progress in God's ways? Has His voice 
one call? Is there no present requirement, no living, 
pon you if you would enter the 
kingdom.'! 'Behold the bridegroom cometh!" 

YVhatd ptthat- to arise at 01 



INI 5S IN Pi i 

"Ch will serve.' 1 What is 

lecide — to be wholly Christ's now? 
Th; risibility upon 

mself ; to address us thus personally, as I am 
•u, and to say : " Arise. Follow me. 

ffyour leth our decision, and doit 

v." 

J have said a man must act upon PROBABILIT! 
can be done otherwise. And there is no I 
fom faith. God says, " Trust me. The 
my word ; believe it, obex- it, and thou shalt live." But 
you say, " I am not convinced. I want a certainty. I do 
et understand it all. I do not see through to the very 
end.'" No, you never will, and in your daily affairs you 
never do. Things are not so constituted. 

Exactly in the line of what we have shown to be the 
underlying principle of daily life— namely, TRUST — God 
draws us to himself. We are to BELIEVE in Him, and 
because we believe in Him, we are to give ourselves to 
Him. 

Have you done it ? Come down to details. Look into 
your life, and into your heart. Are you living for God. 
really, truly? Not, are you professing to? But are you 
doing it? Are you looking after your motives, your pur- 
poses, your thoughts, your words? Are all made to tell for 
God and for Christ because you are His? If not, what? 
You could not succeed in business otherwise. Can you 
serve God, can you be truly His, without the same watch- 
fulness of little things ? 

Be as liberal as you will in your judgments of others— are 
you exact with yourself? Ah, dear friends, how many 
deceive themselves here. You do not believe in eternal 
punishment for the impenitent sinner. You do not believe 
that God is angry with the wicked every day. Woe to 
you if you are taking advantage of your liberality to others 
to apply this doctrine to yourself. Where is the man who 



3o Bi IN RELIGION. 



could hope to succeed in business on that principle? You 

It V »U hold you- .lability. 

You d » i 1 you mal ■ uncertainty tell in 

-e the w<>id of Gud is tr 
that except a man 1~ n the Lord jYsus Christ, and 

titothe other world His servant, His child, he cannot 
: j what I id? Where will you stand? 

You are dealing with a righteous as w< II as a 1 
An a i be given to Him. Are you ready for it? 

•;• some of j tamed to be Christ You 

rejoi< ur business. You are pruud to be identified 

with it. Youw n as one of the merchants, 

one of the manufacturers, one of the business men of St. 
Loui>. You hesital »ne of the Chris- 

tians of St. Louis. Is there any thing nobler? ''There 
A. B., one of our merchan s, i ur lawyers, one 

r bankers." Yes ; but more than that, and before all 
that, " one of our Christians— a follower of the Lord Jesus 
Christ, a prominent believer, a conspicuous one." Why? 
Because his whole life proclaims it. He is a Christian with 
a purj he believes in his religion, he stakes everything 

upon it, he glories In it, he lives up to it; and when he 
dies the town will lose in him, before .all else, a man who 
j the Lord Jesus Christ, and faithfully served him. 
Is not that something worth living for? Will you not, then, 
after this fashion, c ir business into your religion? 

Begin to be a Christian now, and be such a Christian that 
the angels and the little children may be glad over you. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

11 in mini in i nil 

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